Bath Time
by Kiki Lefevre
Summary: A short, hopefully humorous one-shot. After Meracle's arrival on the Calnus, Faize is dragged into one of Lymle's innocent plans. No pairings, unless you squint real hard and fill in any blanks on your own. Review if you like.


**_I just finished playing Star Ocean: The Last Hope and I loved it. It was funny, especially the character interaction! I loved the whole familial relationship that everyone had, but Faize was my favorite. I thought I should just play with the characters relationships a little and make something a little funny. Besides, there's likely more going on between planet warps than we see.  
Hope my characterization isn't off, I tried to avoid OOC-ness._**

**Disclaimer: _I don't own Star Ocean: The Last Hope, or the characters. (I kinda wish I did though. Then I'd be able to pick on Faize all the time. XD)_**

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**Bath time**

_When you step onto the 003-Calnus, you can sense disorder, no matter how clean and organized the place appears. Everyone will say that things are as normal as they get, but can they really judge that? You have two humans, who seem to have a very complicated 'friendship', an Eldarian with a slight formality problem, a tiny fifteen year old Lemurisian with a 'small' aging difficulty and a giant demon pet, a cyborg Morphus who seems to have chipped away at his heart with his mechanical parts and a humanoid cat alien who can't remember what planet she hails from._

_As for things being normal, well, normal is chaotic._

_**~OoOoO~**  
_

Faize Sheifa Beleth prided himself on his patience and his politeness, but even he would have to admit life on the Calnus was hectic, if not infuriating. Lymle's attitude towards him was bad enough, but then there was Edge and Reimi's disputes, Bacchus habit of sub-consciously using his optical camouflage at the most inopportune times, (take for example the time he had stopped in front of the top of the stairs, causing anyone walking up them to run into him and subsequently tumble back down) and the new addition, Meracle, whose energy could become an annoyance of extreme proportions. Things on the Calnus were basically a complete disaster that he would end up fixing in the end. Like for example...

"Merry...! Merry!" Lymle called, frantically opening and searching every searchable area on the ship. She stuck her head in cabinets, opened the item creation storage bins, (prompting numerous items to fall about) and even looked through the drawers in peoples rooms (much to their chagrin) When she attempted to crawl into a gap that allowed maintenance access into the engine rooms, Faize gabbed her by the sides and pulled her out.

"Lymle, that's dangerous. Please don't be playing around in here." She pouted and twisted in his arms,

"Hmmmph. Faize, I'm looking for Merry. She needs a bath, 'kay?" She squirmed out of his grasp and fell to her knees, brushing her dress off as she stormed away. Faize wondered if she had even so much as thought about asking someone about her whereabouts, a little annoyed. He had only helped keep her from trouble, yet she brushed him off yet again. Well, should she need to find 'Merry' she could do it without him!

Faize then ironically found himself looking after the appearing-to-be six-year-old as she scanned and looked over every inch of the ship. Edge, Bacchus and Reimi were all training in the battle simulator, leaving him to watch the 'child'. It seemed as if Meracle was changing hiding places because Lymle could never find her, no matter where she looked. Finally, when she huffed, pouted and stomped away to raid the kitchen for cookies, Faize took matters into his own hands. He decided the first place to look would be that last place anyone would hide, their own room. So, after making sure that he wouldn't barge in should Meracle be changing, (alien or not, she was still a female) he entered her room to find her. To his unsurprise, he found her sitting smugly on her bed, kicking her legs back and forth.

"Hehe. What're you doing in here Faize?" He paid her little attention as he looked over her, agreeing wholeheartedly with Lymle's previous comment: Meracle did in fact need a bath, quite urgently. Maybe it was the living conditions on the Alternate Earth, but she was extremely dirty. Faize suspected that it was because they were all worried and dirty (and busily trying to avoid utter destruction) that no one noticed the filthy state their newest crew addition was.

"Me? Well, I believe I'm attempting to locate you, and get you cleaned up." Meracle jumped, and made a dash for the door.

"You're, like, the _last_ person I would have guessed Lymle would have helping her!" Faize, almost chuckling, had stuck his arm out and encircled the small teen in his arm before dragging her to the female shower room, tugging away, kicking wildly and screaming in protest. She had even bitten him on the way, which startled him into nearly letting her go. (He'd get that bite checked out later, he resolved)

It seemed to have taken him ten minutes to get to the bathroom, with Meracle fighting wildly against him. How Lymle had not heard him was a mystery, but he had no time to think about that now. He gave the blue-haired (and eared and tailed) girl a shove into the females shower room, waiting for her to get started.

"Meracle, do you know how to use the shower?" he wondered to himself whether she would, given her situation.

"Of course I know! The professor wouldn't let me just marinate in my own filth!" she cried, obviously peeved. So, he waited for the sound of the shower running or something to indicate she was washing herself. When she did nothing, he peered inside cautiously to see what she was doing. She was standing in the far corner of the room, ears folded backwards and tail erect behind her, teeth bared and gnashing. So, making sure to keep himself between the girl and the door, he opened the shower and turned the water onto a lukewarm spray before shoving the girl inside.

"I suggest you throw your clothing out through the door of the shower after you remove it. I'll be outside the room." There was an unmistakable hissing noise that indicated Meracle's displeasure with the situation. However, the water would at least wash away most of the grime on her body even if she decided to jump out right now and make a dash for another hiding place. Seeing as his task was completed, he calmly walked back to the ship's bridge to see if he could find something to keep himself occupied.

A tapping on his shoulder woke him from a slumber he didn't remember falling into. He shook the sleep from his person as he turned to the perpetrator. A very clean looking and smelling Meracle was smiling at him, silently laughing at catching him in such a vulnerable state, looking as if something was waiting on the very tip of her tongue to be said. He waved his hand as an indication he was he was listening to her and waited for whatever it was she was going to say. She grinned again.

"If you're tired, you should sleep in your own room." The phrase brought memories of the time he had said a comment similar in another context, and the image it brought up made his stomach turn with an emotion he couldn't name. Why it did so was lost on him, and Meracle continued to grin. "You know..." she trailed off, waiting for him to question her

"I know quite a few things." He smirked, twisting her phrase into a friendly joke. She laughed.

"Yeah, Mr. Know-it-all, but I doubt you know this." It piqued his interest and he waited for her to continue. "Lymle says 'thanks'." She skipped away, leaving Faize staring at her retreating form. Lymle, thanking him? What for? Meracle needed a bath, so he gave her one, so if anything, it would be Meracle who should thank him. He still let the smug feeling travel through his body as he turned and began working at the computer again.  
At least someone finally appreciated what he did.

~**OoOoO**~

"Doggy! Doggy! Dog- Ah, Faize! C'mere, C'mere!" Lymle tugged on the Eldarians sleeve as she pulled him out of the main deck with her. "I'm looking for my doggy. He needs a bath!" For a moment he pondered simply pointing out that she could summon him through symbology if she desired, but he was sure that even Lymle would have known that fact and tried it or she wouldn't be dragging him around. He decided against it when he realized that the peace they had maintained between themselves would be broken because she would certainly take such a comment as an insult and become angry with him.  
So, as she dragged him throughout the ship, he would admit that he had perhaps set himself up for this, but one question remained in his mind...

Could that demon-thing even bathe?

**END**

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**_Yup, I thought it was kind of funny. I'm pretty sure that near the end there when Faize was talking to Meracle the character slipped, but oh well. The whole stomach-turning thing with Faize at the comment from Lymle's 'nappy-time' incident is only because he acted so strangely and rudely that I guess it bugged him somewhat. Interpret it how you want.  
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**_I also realize the set-up in the bathrooms would make the way Faize 'trapped' Meracle not possible, not even mentioning her acrobatic abilities. I tweaked it a little in my head though, so whatever.  
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**_Stupid thing wouldn't let me use asterisks so I went with O's instead. (I want asterisks...)  
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**_Review if you want, criticism of the constructive nature is appreciated, but you could always just be a non-reviewer if you want. (Though I don't like 'em. ;p ) _****_  
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